The present invention relates to a desk top type compact label printer.
The conventional label printers of this type are adapted to accommodate a label tape, which is made up by adhering a number of labels onto a carrier strip in order and winding the carrier strip in the shape of roll, extend said label tape below the printing head and print a required information onto each of these labels in sequence, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,558.
Most printers of this type of label printer employ an electronic thermal printing head such as, for example, a thermographic printing head and the like to print a bar code on each of the labels.
In the label printers employing such electronic thermal printing head, said thermal printing head and the label depressing mechanism for making the label contact the thermal printing head are firmly supported at both ends to make each label accurately contact the thermal printing head and are located inside the casing.
Since the conventional label printers are constructed as described above, it is necessary for loading the label tape in the label printer to mount a roll of label tape on the tape holder, extend the label tape from this roll of label tape and pass the label tape through the tape guide inside the label printer in the lengthwise direction of the tape and therefore there has been a problem that the setting of the label tape is troublesome.